In September 1970, a virus that cause diseases similar to the smallpox disease was discovered in a child in Bokenda village. Specimens from the nine-month-old boy who was supposedly sick from smallpox were sent to the WHO Smallpox Reference Centre in Moscow.
On examination, it was noted that the lesions were similar to smallpox , which the child had for two weeks or more. During the scabbing stage, the patient developed enlarged, painful cervical nodes, perhaps, one of the reasons why the patient did not survive. This case was recorded as the first monkeypox virus human infection. (Marennikovaet al., 1972)
Before the incident, the monkeypox virus was already identified in a lab at Denmark when several monkeys had virus treatment for poxvirus. This 1958 discovery found that the virus causes its victims to break out with painful blisters all over their body before killing them. The virus emerged in Congo in 1970 with sporadic outbreaks over the years, primarily in Central and West Africa. (AP, 11/29/06)
Monkeypox virus is classified as Zoonosis that occurs from time to time in the tropical rainforests of central and western Africa. Before 1970, a missionary who was living in Congo reported that a monkey was killed in the forest 10 km from Bokenda village. The disease covered the whole body of this particular monkey with rash that looks like smallpox.
The Virus known as Human Monkeypox
There were no known incidents of the virus in humans until September 1970. Human monkeypox virus may have occurred during close contacts with infected animals. In the spring of 2003, clusters of diseases caused by monkeypox occurred in the US Midwest for the first time.
Many believed that the diseases were acquired from close exposure to pet prairie dogs infected with the virus. The prairie dogs could have contracted the monkeypox virus when they were housed in an animal facility with Gambian rats, rope and tree squirrels, which are known carriers of diseases caused by monkeypox in their native habitats in Africa.
Monkeypox produces diseases and infections that are similar to smallpox characterized by body rash with fever, headache, muscle ache and back pain. Rashes will start to show on the third day of the infection and will develop into raised bumps filled with fluid. In general, the illness will last for four to six weeks.
However, some human monkeypox diseases can be worse. Lesions can progress from macules to papules to vesicles and pustules. Lesion size can be three to 15 mm in diameter and the distribution and severity of the rash can completely cover the face, the extremities, the scalp and the trunk. Some patients develop a severe fulminating disease and die.
Who can contract the monkeypox virus? Those who caught the virus confirmed having a close contact to the dogs with nasal discharge, lymphadenopathy, and mucocutaneous lesions. In the 2003 monkeypox outbreak, asymptomatic animals were able to contaminate other animals with the virus.
After an average incubation period of 12 days, the contaminated animal becomes ill and people who are in close contact with it will be able to acquire the virus. [Source: Monkeypox by Mary Beth Graham, MD]
Monkeypox diseases can spread from non-human-primate populations to human and human-to-human. Human-to-human transmission is possible through close contact with active lesions and respiratory secretions. Crowded living quarters and poor hygiene can speed up the transmission of the virus.
More Facts about the Virus
The monkeypox virus (MPXV) is endemic to the rainforests of central and western Africa.The virus was first identified as the cause of a smallpox-like infection in captive monkeys in 1959 at Statens Seruminstitut, Copenhagen, Denmark. There were other outbreaks including eight that occurred in the US and the Netherlands among groups of captive monkeys, which came from India, Malaysia, and the Philippines. [Sale et al., 2006]
Monkeypox virus (MPXV) known animal reservoirs are African squirrels, dormice, gazelles, mice, monkeys, porcupines, prairie dogs, rabbits, and rats. Studies of infected prairie dogs revealed that the virus was cultured from their blood and oropharynx several days before death. Animals that survived the infection store the virus in their nasal discharge and oropharynx. [Source: Emerging Infectious Diseases, Author: Xiao, Shu-Yuan et al., 2005]
The virus can cause symptoms that are like those of smallpox. Fever is accompanied by cough, drenching sweats, severe headache, and shortness of breath. Then rash will follow within one to 10 days that often starts on the face and then spreads to the rest of the body.
WHO Global Commission for the Certification of Smallpox Eradication declared human monkeypox as the most critical orthopoxvirus infection after the post-smallpox era. However, monkeypox treatment can provide complete protection from animal to human infections. Smallpox vaccine-induced antibodies are sufficient as aids against the virus.
Monkeypox is a rare viral disease with morbidity and mortality rates ranging from 1% to 20% and a significant secondary transmission rate. (Sbrana et al., 2007)
Monkeypox virus was discovered in an enzootic state in arboreal squirrels that live in the rain forests of the western and central Africa. Today, the virus has spread to the other parts of the world by means of exotic animal trade. Some of the animals that were traded are known virus carrier to monkeypox.
References:
1. Reynolds MG, Davidson WB, Curns AT, Conover CS, Huhn G, Davis JP, et al. Spectrum of Infection and Risk Factors for Human Monkeypox, United States, 2003. Emerg Infect Dis [ISSN: 1080-6059]. 2007 Sep [May 29, 2010]. Available from http://www.cdc.gov/EID/content/13/9/1332.htm
2. Outbreaks of Disease Suspected of Being Due to Human Monkeypox: Virus Infection in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2001, Journal of Clinical Microbiology, Aug. 2002, p. 2919–2921 Vol. 40, No. 80095-1137/02/$04.000 DOI: 10.1128/JCM.40.8.2919–2921.2002, Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
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